| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 資訊管理所 === 96 === Chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, are very prevalent, costly, and preventable health problems. The prolonged course of illness and disability from chronic diseases results in extended pain and suffering and poor life quality of patients. In Taiwan, diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death. Although intensive therapeutic programs are effective in reducing diabetic complications and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, patients’ compliance with DM medication therapy is usually more critical. This research identifies the relationships between revisits of outpatients with diabetes and their medical prescriptions to improve outpatient on-time revisits.
Data of outpatients who received diabetic treatments from a regional hospital in southern Taiwan in 2007 were collected. Data analysis showed significant differences in chronic disease continuous prescription rate, number of drug items per prescription, and physician service time between delayed and on-time revisit groups. Cluster analysis found an on-time revisit group with four characteristics, namely drug cost between NT 150 and 450 per prescription, blood glucose check at patients’ revisits, takeing continuous prescriptions, and visiting Endrocrine clinic, and a delayed group charaterized by no glucophage and sulfonyureas used, no continuous prescription, and drug cost under NT 150 per prescription. Based on the results, we developed a strategy to improve outpatient on-time revisit rate by reminding outpatients to refill their medication prescriptions with phone calls on a regular basis.
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